Selective vending machine



SELECTIVE VENDING MACHINE Filed April so, 1928 5 Sheets Sheet 1 MAQM Aug. 9, 1932. .F. L. MILLS SELECTIVE VENDING MACHINE Filed April 30, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I l IHl l l l I l l l l b HI I HII HHI I U L 7 MM W Aug. 9, 1932.

F. L. MILLS 1,870,637

SELECTIVE VENDING MACHINE Aug. 9, 1932.

Filed April 30, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 HU MINI NH 9, 1932. MIILLS I 1,870,637

SELECTIVE VENDING MACHINE Filed April 50, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE FRED L. MILLS, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO HILLS vNO'VEL'IY OOMPANY,

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS SELECTIVE ,VENDING MACHINE This invention relates to coin-operated vending machines, and has for its primary object theprovision of a vending machine having a plurality of normally locked merchandlse compartments and means whereby the customer, upon inserting a coin in a slot in the machine, may obtain merchandise from any one of the compartments which he'may select.

The invention is useful in connection with mint venders to enable a customer to obtain a package of mints of desired flavor from a machine having a plurality of compartments containing mints of different flavors, though it will be evident that it may also be usefully employed in the dispensing of other merchandise.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description,

which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereo Referring to the drawings, 4

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of a vending machine in which my invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, taken substantially on the section line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front-to-back sectional view of the lower front part of the machine, showing the operation of the ejecting device;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the lower right-hand portion of the machine (viewing Fig. 2), showing one of the ejectors and the locking mechanism therefor;

Fig. 6 is a similar view, showing a difierent stage in the operation;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view, taken substantially on the section line 7-7 of Fig. 5;-

- Fig. 8 is a detail sectional View, taken substantially on the section line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the lower end of one of the merchandise compartments, showing the support for one of the ejectors and, in dotted lines, the yielding support for the lower-most package in the compartment; and

.1s moved downwardly against Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the ejectors.

In the illustrative embodiment of the machine shown in the drawings, the reference character 11 indicates the casing of the machine, in the front of which are a plurality of merchandise compartments 12, each containing, as shown, a single stack of packages of mints, indicated by the reference character 13. As shown in Fig. 3, the merchandise compartments are arranged side by sidethe "top of the machine, the coin being adapted to drop downwardly through a chute, the lower part of which is indicated at 16, the

coin-actuated mechanism serving to release locking devices to be presently described so that a customer may obtain a package of mints from one of the merchandise compartments, it being understood, of course that the merchandise may be of any suitable nature for vending in a machine of this character. In accordance with the present invention, the customer is enabled to obtain for his coin a package from any selected one of the merchandise compartments, which ordinarily will contain mints of diflerent flavor, as indicated on the wrappers visible through the windows 14.

Upon deposit of a coin in the chute 16, it comes to a position of rest in which it is supported by yieldable means, in the usual man ner (this mechanism not being shown in detail since it is well known) and upon actuation of a lever 20 (shown in Fig7 2) on the exterior of the casing, a lever 1 pivoted at 18 to a fixed part'of the machine the tension 0 a spring 19, secured at one end to said lever 17, as indicated at 21, and at the other end to a fixed part of the'frame, as indicated at 22. The lever 17 is provided at its outer end with a lateral stud 23, which is adapted to be enga ed by'a part on the exterior lever, or han e, 20 above mentioned, to move said which is lever 17 downwardly in the manner just described. The lever 17 is normally locked,

however, and can be moved only to a limited extent unless a coin has first been inserted in the slot 16.

A locking lever 24, provided with ashoulder 25, is pivoted at 26 to the frame and has a pin and slot connection at 27 with a lever 28, centrally pivoted at 29 and carryin at its upper end a pivoted pin 31, adapte to enter the coin passage in thelower part of the chute 16. A spring 32, secured at one end to a hook part 33 on the upper end of the locking arm or lever 24, and at the opposite end to'the frame, serves to normally draw said lever 24 toward the right, viewin Fig. 1.

t will be noted that the lever 17 is pro vided with a lug 34 in engagement with the upper part of the lockinglever 24, the latter having an arcuate portion 35 above the shoulder 25, so that as the lever 17 is moved downwardly, the locking lever 24 is turned on its pivot toward the right until the lug 34 engages the shoulder 25, thus preventing further movement of the parts. This action, of course, turns the lever 28 upon its pivot 29, causing the pin 31 to enter the coin passage, as it may freely do if there is no coin present. If, however, there is a coin in the chute, the end of the pin 31 engages the same, thus holding the lever 28 and the locking lever 24 in the position shown in Fig. 1 and permitting the lever 17 to be depressed to the full extent, since the lug 34 will then clear the shoulder 25.

A link 36 has a pin and slot connection at 37 with an intermediate part of the lever 17, the upper end 38 of said link being connected with a member (not shown) turned at right angles to the upper end of said link and adapted to be drawn downwardly in the coin passage to force the coin throughsaid passage to a point of discharge, in the usual manner.

yielding connection is provided between the lever 17 and the link 36 by means of springs 39, connected at one end to a clip 41 on the lever 17 and at the other end to a plate 42 secured at anintermediate point to the link 36.

A member 43, rigid with the lever 17, carries a pawl 44 adapted when the lever 17 is depressed to engage an arm 45, rigid with a rock shaft 46, carrying a plurality of actuating arms adapted to operate various elements in the machine only one of which is shown in the drawings, however, since the others are not particularly involved in the present invention. The element referred to is an ejector unlocking device comprising an arm 47 pivoted at 48 to an arm 49, rigid, with the rock shaft 46, said arm 47 being normally held in engagement with a stop 51 on said arm 49 by means of a spring 52, secured at one end to the arm 49 and at the other end the arm 47. Apawl 53 is pivoted to the outer 1 end of the arm 47 and the rear end 54 thereof is-normally held against "a stud 55,by means of a spring 56, this stud holding the pawl in rigid relationship to the arm 47 on the downward stroke of the latter.

It will be understood that the arm 47 is raised upon actuation of the rock shaft 46, in the manner hereinbefore described, and on the downward stroke produced by a spring return of the shaft 46 (as shown, for example, in my prior Patent N 0. 1,586,455), the pawl 53 engages the top of a lever 57, the upper end of which is provided with a. slot 58 throu h which extends a fixed stud 59. It will e noted that the construction is such that, on the up-stroke of the arm 47, the pawl 53 may slip past this member 57, but, on the downstroke, the member 57 will be moved from the full line position shown in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position, thereby turning the lever 61, with which said member 57 is pivotally connected at 62, on its pivot 63, the outer end of said lever 61 being provided with a stud 64, adapted to' engage anejector lock bar and operate the same, as will be presently described. The outer end of the lever 61 is normally held in the down position by means of a spring 66, secured at one end 'to said member 61 forwardly of the pivot 63 and at the opposite end to the frame. This spring tends to hold the levers 61 and 57 normally in the full-line position shown in F ig. 1.

iThebar 65 is beveled at its outer end, as indicated at 67, and is normally held in its right-hand position by means of a spring 68, secured atone end to said bar and at the opposite end to the frame. (See Fig. 3.) The beveled portion 67 of said bar is in the path of movement of the stud 64 on the member 61, so that when the latter is raised, through operation of the coin-controlled mechamsm as previously described, it strikes said beveled portion 67 of the bar and shifts it towards the left (viewing Fig. 3) against the tension of the spring 68, for a purpose which will now I be described.

Said bar is provided on its rear side with a plurality of studs 69, which are adapted, when the bar is shifted toward the left by operation of the coin-controlled lever 61, to strike a vertical arm 71 on a pivoted locking member 72, normally held in the position shown in Fig. 5by means of a spring 73 connected'at one end to a lug 74 on said locking member 72 and at the other end to a stud 75, arising from a floor plate 76 in the lower part of the casing. When the arm 71 of the locktends through a front bar 79 of the ejector ing member 72 is struck by the lug 69 on the any selected position,

vfour ejectors and are so bracket 77 and into a socket 81 in a handle 82 on said bracket, the other end of the spring being arranged upon a stud 83 on a front wall 84 of one of the merchandise compartments. It will be understood that the ejectors and ilocking devices are duplicated for each merchandise compartment and a description of one will, therefore, suffice for the four shown in the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 10, it will be'seen that the ejector bracket 77 has rearwardly extending arms 85 at opposite ends thereof, the extremities of said arms being of arcuate form, as indicated at 86. Said arms 85' are adapted to extend through openings 87 in the wall 84 of the merchandise compartment, and to engage the lowermost package of mints when the ejector is forced inwardly, as shown in Fig. 4.

A plate 88 is applied to the front of the ejector bracket 77 and is formed with an upwardly extending central lug 89, turned for wardly and forming a lip91, as clearly shown in Fig. 10. The bar is provided with a plurality of notches 92 on the under side thereof, there being one such notch at each ejector station and the lip 91 of the ejector being disposed in said notch. The notch is of sufficient length to provide clearance during the movement of the bar 65, as previously described.

' A horizontal bar 93 isprovided at the front of the bar 65 and is mounted on studs 94, upon which it is held by means of screws 95 extending through slots 96 in said bar. (See Fig. 5.) Said bar 93 is formed with a series of notches on its under side, these being indicated, respectively, by the reference characters 97, 98, 99, 101. It is also provided with a handle 102, the outer part of which is in the form of an indicator, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The notches 97, 98, 99 and 101 in the bar 93 correspond to the lips 91 of the located that only one ejector can be operated in any one position of the bar. This will be readily understood from viewing Fig. 3, in which it will be noted that the lip 91 on the ejector at the right-hand side of the figure is disposed in, or in alignment with, the notch 97, but the notches 98, 99, and 101 are out of alignment with the lips of the other three ejectors. With the ejectors all in the outer position, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, the bar 93 may be moved by hand to the indicator handle 102 being arranged to point to any one of a series of arrows 103, 104, 105, and 106 leading, respectively, to the merchandise coniartments from left to right, as viewed from the front of the machine. (See Fig 2.)

It will be understood that after operation of the release bar 65, all of the ejectors will be in the outer position and positioning of the selector bar 93. as just described, will be permitted. The ejector for the selected 'merchandise compartment will then be operated dows 14,

to eject the lowermost package of mints in that compartment, as shownin Fig. 4 of the drawings, from which it will be noted that said lowermost packageis retained against rolling out through an opening 106 at the rear of the compartment by means of a flanged spring member 107, the package bemg arcuate guide 108 formed in the rear wall of the compartment, the spring member yielding as clearly shown in Fig. 4 and the package dropping to the bottom of the casin and into a trough 109, from which it may e removed by the customer. After being forced all the way in to the full line positionshown in Fig. 4, the ejector is returned to the dotted line position shown in said figure, but it will be noted that, in both positions, the lip 91 is disposed in the associated notch of the bar 93 so that the latter cannot be moved endwise until the ejector returns to its outermost position. Such return, obviously, is prevented by the lock member, or latch, 72, which is moved by the spring 73 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 5, and

remains in that position until the next operation of the coin mechanism, which serves to shift the release bar 65 toward the left, causing the lug 69 thereon to strike against the arm 71 on said latch 72, thereby disengaging the lateral projection 111 thereon from looking engagement with the front of the ejector bracket 77. The selector bar may then be shifted to another position, or left in the same position if the same flavor of mints should be desired upon the next operation. I

Manifestly, the ejector for any selected compartment may be used upon such subsequent operation, and, after being forced inwardly, serves to lock the selector bar until the machine is again operated, the ejector itself being also looked against repeated operation by means of the spring latch 72.

A device may be employed to prevent operation of the machine in case the merchandise compartment is empty, this device, however, not being illustrated in detail since it forms no part of the present invention. The pivoted fingers 112 shown in each of the compartments are adapted to turn on their pivforced out between said member and an ots unless restrained by mint packages in which he may see through one of the wininserts a coin in the machine and actuates the lever 20, thereby rocking the shaft 46 in the manner hercinbefore described, the operations thus started including an actuation of the ejector control member 57 by mean% of the pawl 53 on the arm 47 carried by the arm 49 on the rock shaft 46.

, that only the ejector beneath the selected compartment may be operated, and, having been forced inwardly, the operated ejector will be engaged by. the associated latch 72 and the lip 91 of said ejector will remain in the associated notch of the selector bar, thus holding the latter against further operation until the machine is again operated, which cannot be accomplished until another coin has been inserted. Upon the insertion of another coin, however, and operation of the handle 20, the release bar is actuated to disengage the latch 72 and permit this last operated ejector to be moved outwardly by its spring 78. The customer may then make another selection and, by engaging the knob, or handle 82 of the ejector associated with the selected compartment, may obtain the lowermost package in the compartment'selected.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely' a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A vending machine comprising a plurality of merchandise compartments, means normally preventing discharge of the contents of said compartments, coin-operated mechanism for releasing said means, an ejector for each of said compartments, and a manually operable selector member whereby the customer may releasefor operation a selected one only of said ejectors, said selector member comprising'a locking element adapted to be moved to a selected position by the operator preliminary to the operation of the selected ejector.

2. A vending machine comprising a singlecoin slot, a plurality of merchandise compartments, means for normally locking said compartments against delivery, coin-operated means for releasing said locking means, said coin-operated means including a release memher and means operable upon insertion of a coin in the machlne to shift said member to effect release of said locking means and a manually-operable selector device for rendering accessible an article of merchandise in a selected one of said compartments, said device comprising a normally locked selector member and means for releasing the latter upon actuation of the coin-operated release means.

3. A vending machine comprising a single coin slot, a plurality of merchandise compartments, means for normally locking said compartments against delivery, coin-operated means for releasing said locking'means, said coin-operated means including a release member and means operable upon insertion of a coin in the machine to shift said member to effect release of said locking means, a man ually operable device selector for permitting delivery of an article of merchandise from a selected one of said compartments, said device comprising a normally locked selector member and means for releasing the latter upon actuation of the coin-operated release means, and means operable by the customer to discharge the article of merchandise from the selected compartment.

4. A vending machine comprising a single coin slot, a plurality of merchandise compartments, means for normally locking said compartments against delivery, coin-operated means for releasing said locking means, said coin-operated means including a release member and means operable upon insertion of a coin in the machine to shift said member to efl'ect release of said locking means, a manually operable selector device for permitting delivery of an article of merchandise from a selected one of said compartments, said device comprising a normally locked selector memher and means for releasing the latter upon actuation of the coin-operated release means, and means operable by the customer to discharge the article of merchandise from the selected compartment, operation of said lastmentioned means serving to lock the compartments against operation until the next succeeding actuation of said coin-operated means.-

5. A vending machine comprising a plurality of merchandise compartments, a corresponding number of merchandise ejectors, a selector device whereby the customer may select the compartment from which he desires to obtain merchandise, said ejectors being normally held against actuation, and coin-operated means for controlling the operation of said selector device and said ejectors so that merchandise may be ejected from a selected one of said compartments, said coin-operated means including a release memher and means operable upon insertion of a coin in the machine to shift said member to permit actuation of said ejectors.

6. A rality of merchandise compartments, a corresponding number of ejectors associated revending machine comprising a pluejectors,

spectively with said compartments, a bar normally preventing actuation of all but one of said ejectors, the other ejector normally locking said bar, means normally holding said last-mentioned ejector in looking posi-' tion and preventing actuation thereof, and coin-controlled means for releasing said ejector, the latter being thereupon movable to non-obstructing position and said bar being then movable to selected position to permit actuation of a selected one of said ejectors.

7. A vending machine comprising a plurality of merchandise compartments, a corresponding number of ejectors associated respectively with said compartments, a bar normally preventing actuation of all but one of said ejectors, the other ejector normally'locking said bar, means normally holding said last-mentioned ejector in locking position and preventing actuation thereof, and coincontrolled means for releasing said ejector, the latter being thereupon movable to no obstructing position and said bar being then movable to selected position to permit actuation of a selected one of said ejectors, said coin-controlled means including a springheld shifter bar and means operable upon insertion of a coin in the machine to shift said bar, the latter being equipped with means adapted to release said ejector holding means when said bar is shifted.

8. A vending machine comprising a plurality of merchandise compartments, a corresponding number of ejectors associated respectively with said compartments, a bar normally preventing actuation of all but one of said ejectors, the other ejector normally locking said bar, means normally holding said last-mentioned ejector in looking position and preventing actuation thereof, coincontrolled means for releasing said ejector, and spring means for thereupon moving said ejector to non-obstructing position, said bar being then movable to selected position to permit actuation of a selected one of said ej ectors.

9. A vending machine comprising a casing having a plurality of merchandise com partments, ejectors associated with said compartments, operation of all but a selected one of said a detent for preventing-repeated operation of the selected ejector, a shifter bar, coin-controlled means for operating said shifter bar to move said detent and thereby release said ejector, the lock bar being then operable by the customer to release any selected one of the ejectors whereby merchandise maybe obtained from any selected c0mpartment.

10. A vending machine comprising a casing having a plurality of merchandise compartments, ejectors associated with said compartments, a lock bar normally preventing operation of all but a selected one of said a. lock bar normally preventing ejectors, a detent for preventing repeated operation of the selected ejector, a shifter bar, coin-controlled means for operating said shifter bar to move said detent and thereby release said ejector, the lock bar being then operable by the customer to release any selected one of the ejectors whereby merchandise may be obtained from any selected compartment, operation of the last selected ejector serving to lock all said ejectors against further operation until another-coin has been inserted in the machine.

11. A vending machine comprising a casing having a plurality of merchandise compartments, ejectors associated with said compartments, spring means normally urging said ejectors towards projected or inoperative position, a lock bar normally preventing operation of 'all but a selected one of said ejectors, a detent for preventing repeated operation of the selected ejector, a shifter bar, coin-controlled means for operating said shifter bar to move said detent and thereby release said ejector, the lock bar being then operable by the customer to release any selected one of the ejectors whereby merchandise may be obtained from any selected compartment, operation of the last selected ejector serving to look all said ejectors against further operation until another coin has been inserted in the machine.

12. A vending machine comprising a casing having a plurality of merchandise comejectors associated with said compartments, said ejectors each having a locking lug thereon, a lock bar having notches therein corresponding to the lugs on said ej ectors but so located that only one ejector lug is in registration with a corresponding notch at one time, the ejectors being selectively operable and operation of a selected ejector causing its locking lug to enter a notch in partments,

said bar upon movement of the latter to ap-.

propriate positon, means for holding the operated ejector in position with its lug disposed in said notch, thereby locking the bar in position to obstruct operation of any of the other ejectors, and coin-controlled means for releasing the last operated ejector, the latter being then movable to remove its looking lug from the notch in' said bar and the bar being then selectively positionable to permit operation of the ejector associated with any selected compartment.

13. A vending machine comprising a casing having a plurality of merchandise compartments, ejectors associated with said compartments, said ejectors each having a locking lug thereon, alock bar having notches therein corresponding to the lugs on said e ectors but so located that only one ejector lug is in registration with a corresponding notch me, the ejectors being selectively opat one ti erable and operation of a selected e ector I bar upon movement of the latter to appropriate position, means for holding the operated ejector in position with its lug disposed in said notch, thereby locking the bar in position to obstruct operation of any of the other ejectors, and coin-controlled means for re1easing the last operated ejector, the latter being then movable to remove its locking lug from the notch in said bar and the bar being then selectively positionable to permit operation of the e]ector associated with any selectedcompartment, such operation serving to again lock said bar and to prevent further delivery of merchandise until a succeeding operation of the machine pursuant to the insertion of another coin.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

FRED L. MILLS. 

